News Archive
Welcome to Professor Thomas Driver
The Department of Chemistry warmly welcomes Dr. Tom Driver as a professor of chemistry. His first day is July 1.
Dr. Driver joins us from the University of Illinois, Chicago. He received his PhD from the University of California, Irvine.
Dr. Driver has won several awards for his teaching and work with graduate students, including the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC) LAS Award for Faculty in Sciences and the UIC Graduate College Graduate Mentor Award.
At the University, Dr. Driver’s group will research the development of synthetic methodology, mechanism study, and drug discovery and development. The Driver group is focused on the discovery of distinct and unique reactivity patterns of N-aryl- and N-alkenyl divalent nitrogen reactive intermediates and non-carbonyl stabilized metal carbenes to both advance the understanding of these reactive species and leverage their reactivity to create new bonds in privileged N-heterocyclic and carbocyclic scaffolds. These new bond forming reactions can be used to create novel modulators of NAMPT, an important enzyme in the NAD salvage pathway, for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease.
Once again, welcome, Dr. Driver! We are thrilled to have you here.